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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Jesus Freak-Peacenik

Back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s I was going through a lot of turmoil, not unlike most teens my age. Being involved with the Jesus Movement during that time gave me the inner peace that I was craving.

But, becoming a Christian also challenged two very important passions of mine, Science and the Anti-War Movement. In my earlier blog post, I'm Losing (And Finding) My Religion - Again, I wrote about my faith journey and my love of science and how I finally reconciled the two

Here, I want to tell the story of my other passion and how being involved with the Jesus Movement caused me to abandon the Anti-War Movement for a period of time.

During the Vietnam War I registered for the draft as a Consciences Objector. The Great Command to “love your neighbor as your self” along with the Great Commission to “go and make disciples” could not be reconciled in my mind with going to war. I would often make the point of how totally incompatible spreading the Gospel is with going to war by saying “Hello, I am a christian and I am here to let you know that Jesus loves you... BANG!”

On one hand I was hanging up anti-war posters while on the other hand I was passing out Gospel leaflets. At the height of the Jesus Movement a very popular and influential singer named Larry Norman wrote a song that prompted me to give up my anti-war activities. Larry’s song Right Here In America has a line that says:

“I'm not talking religion, I'm talking 'bout Jesus, Put all your plans on the shelf. Let's stop marching for peace, and start marching for Jesus, And peace will take care of itself.”

That is exactly what I did, I shelved my plans to help end the Vietnam War and literally marched for Jesus. I felt that investing time and energy on anything other than spreading the Gospel was sinful. I believed that if I could help convert the whole world to Christianity all wars would miraculously end.

About this same time John Lennon released his hit song Imagine. Imagine was so Anathema to my way of thinking. How could we do away with Heaven and Hell? How could I imagine no religion? I hated that song! I hated it while at the same time I was drawn towards it.

John Lennon’s song challenged me to think about religion in a new way. So many wars and conflicts, so much hatred and division - all in the name of Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, Vishnu, or whatever deity gave someone the feeling that divine authority was granted to kill in the name of religion. I was beginning to understand why John Lennon wrote Imagine. It was not a song against religion, but a song against hatred in the name of religion.

I don’t think that John Lennon would imagine a world without Jesus’ teachings on Peace and Love. Jesus spoke out against hypocrisy and any religion that breeds hatred. Jesus taught that Peacemakers are blessed, he taught that we should love our enemies, reach out to the outcasts, and help the needy.

The eradication of all religion can no more bring about world peace than the conversion of the entire planet to Christianity would. A world totally void of religion or a completely Christian world are both utopian dreams without any basis in reality. With or without religion people still have to choose peace as a way of life, peace is not an automatic byproduct of either system.

I am no longer repulsed by John Lennon’s song Imagine. I came to believe that John was making the point that anything - be it possessions, politics, or religion - anything that causes hatred between people should be abandoned. Imagine is no longer Anathema to me, I now embrace it.

I am still talking about Jesus, but I am also speaking out against war again. I now am actively promoting peace with the full conviction that it is my Christian duty because Jesus said “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God”

"We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is
not enough to say "We must not wage war." It is necessary to love peace
and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative
expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace."
~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - Nobel Peace Prize Lecture December 11, 1964

12 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Hello, my name is butterfly. I'm also a hippie and a Christian. N I am going thru the same struggle. I want to be a minister to people about Jesus but I also hve my different views on things that most Christians don't. So how would I go about that? I mean is that also possible in this society? To be a hippie and be a pastor? Or minister? How would u go about this? Are u a pastor yourself? Do u go to church? If so, which one? Please get back to me, thank you!

If you haven't yet, I hope you find the time to read my posts in the Simple Church section of my blog. They should answer a lot of your questions about my feelings concerning church and ministry. But a short answer would be that I believe in the Priesthood of the Believer. We unplugged from formal church and were getting into the house church movement.

There is a pastor that has been ordaining hippies for the last dozen years or so. His name is Chris Ward and his church is Logo Christian Fellowship in Leesburg Florida.

Also checkout the FaceBook group Hippie Christian. I didn't create that FaceBook group, but I post there sometimes.

I hope you find you way home to God. Being a conscientious objector to war means you have a heart for people and are an independent thinker. You are the kind of person who can make a difference to better mankind.Wishing you peace & love.

I have been looking for someone who felt the same way I felt. I am a firm believer. I feel like not many get me. I feel like people are creating drama where it's not needed. All I wanted was peace and to spread the love of Jesus.I am a hippie and believe in God wholeheardly. Your post makes sense. Thank you for this post!

The Hippie Christian Manifesto

Being A Hippie Christian

Being a Hippie Christian isn't how you dress or what you say as much as it is a total life style. To be a Hippie Christian requires an attitude of the heart that grows out of a personal encounter with the living Christ and overflows into your whole life. Jesus taught about peace and love. Jesus chose the outcasts, He loved the unlovely, He reached out to the rejects. Jesus taught about getting back to the Garden, about having a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe.

For some ancient wisdom on how to live the Hippie Christian life please read Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

About Me

Just an old Long Hair Hippie Jesus Freak from the 60's!
My Hippie name "Cloud" was given to me back in the early 1970's by a Brother in the Lord who called me Cloud because every where he went he would run into me, at the store, the bank, on the street. I seemed to be always following him about like a little black rain cloud, so that became my name - Cloud.
During the Jesus People Movement it was quite normal to be a Hippie and a Christian. I never thought that I had to choose one over the other, for me being a Hippie and a Christian were not mutually exclusive experiences.
Most of us don't like labels, but I have always considered my self to be both, never one or the other. I am a Hippie Christian, a Christian Hippie, a Long Hair Hippie Jesus Freak, whatever - I am just one of God's colorful kids!

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Peace, Love and Light!

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world gives it. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." ~Jesus (John 14:27)

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1John 3:1)

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9)